Archive for July, 2009

Baja California Trip Memories

Friday, July 31st, 2009
A few hours south of the US/Mexico border

A few hours south of the US/Mexico border

The place we were to be going in Mexico was called Punto San Jacinto, and it’s located on the Pacific coast, and if I recall it is somewhere around 150 miles south of the US/Mexico border, definitely a good several hour drive. Getting there is pretty easy, you just head south towards Tijuana, cross the border, and head to the toll road going south. Once you get out of Tijuana it’s a straight shot on the winding highway. There was only one checkpoint, and the fact that my girlfriend is pretty fluent with Spanish made it easy.

At the time we took this trip, the Tijuana area was getting a pretty bad rap in the news because of murders and kidnappings, but we had no problems. We left after dark with […]

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My first Top 10 List — Top 10 books

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

I always enjoy reading other people’s Top 10 lists, and I thought to myself that I’ve never done one. Usually I’m not great at picking favorites, but just for fun I decided I’d put together a list of ten books that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over the past few years, plus a few extra just because I can’t narrow it down to ten.

Keep an eye out for some reviews of these books in the future. I have actually written some for another site I used to run, so over the next week or two I’ll try to get a couple posted up here. Also, for a list of all the books I’ve read over the past couple years, take a look over here.

Here is my list (in no particular order). What are some of your favorites?

Shantaram – Gregory David Roberts
Dharma Bums – Jack Kerouac
The Sun Also Rises […] Read More…
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Social media makes us approachable

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Social Media Image

Photo credit Matt Hamm

I have been thinking a lot lately about how social media has changed how we communicate. But not in the way you might think. It is obvious that sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter have changed the game, but not only have these platforms made everyone connected in simple, straight forward and immediate way, I think they have also made the majority of people more accessible and approachable. Of course this has some obvious downsides like spam and stalkers, but now our worlds are much smaller and people who would have otherwise been unable to be contacted can now be located and contacted in less than a minute. Obviously, this has downsides too, but I’m focusing on the positive aspects. In a way, it has leveled the playing field for everyone since there are all […]

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Ultra marathons and barefoot trail running

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Ultramarathoner Scott Jurek and Tarahumara runner
Photo credit: not sure, I think here

My new interest. Well, an interest maybe, but that’s about where it ends. I do run, but typically only 3 miles at a time. Hardly even a 5K, never mind an ultra marathon. Though I do love the idea of being able to run long distance, it is just so raw and primal and is truly the way we were meant to get around. But is it really possible for anyone to run 100 miles at a time?

I’ve been reading the book Born to Run and it’s just amazing. I’d heard of Dean Karnazes and ultra marathoning in the past, but sort of just figured he was some super human guy and there were only a few crazies out there who did this sort of running. But after flying through the first half of this book in just a few days, I’m wondering if it really is true that anyone is capable of running great distances. Not only does the book thus far tell the interesting story of the Tarahumara natives of Mexico who regularly run distances of 100+ miles, but there are a few profiles of other some interesting people who actually do this sort of running regularly too.

The most I’ve ever run at a time is when I did a half marathon three years ago, and that took 3 months of training to be able to complete. And for me that was tough, as I’ve never been a runner and never found running that enjoyable. But maybe there is something to it, a technique that most people just can’t figure out. I know that since I’ve started running semi regularly, I’ve been able to adjust my technique to a point where I can do it a bit easier, though conditioning is still my issue.

Maybe I’ll try it barefoot or with sandals like the Tarahumara. I’ll get on it right after my calf heals from when I pulled it running last week…

11:11 coincidences

Monday, July 20th, 2009
11:11 coincidences

Photo credit: fr1zz

This post may be a little too new-agey or “out there” for most of you, in fact it’s even a little too new-age for me too. But I’ve been having some interesting coincidences in my life happen recently that I can’t ignore. They are related to the 11:11 phenomenon. Before you write me off as someone who’s losing his mind, let me also say that I am not an overly spiritual person, nor am I into metaphysics or anything like that.

According to Wikipedia:

Numerologists believe that events linked to the time 11:11 appear more often than chance or coincidence. This belief is related to the concept of synchronicity. Other authors believe it is an auspicious sign, and others that it signals a spirit presence.

I have always heard of coincidences with numbers, and have had them happen before in […]

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San Diego River bike path being extended

Saturday, July 18th, 2009
San Diego River bike path

Photo Credit: Sean Haffey, Union Trib

I don’t live in Ocean Beach anymore, but when I did I lived near Dog Beach and the San Diego River. Actually, many people don’t even know that there is a river in San Diego, but there is. So anyway, when I lived there, I always used to jog along the river on the bike path, (yes the linked map is the actual path of the river, only the first few miles were paved at the time I lived there) and once when I was trying to avoid getting in my car I tried to follow the path on my bike into Mission Valley to make a run to Borders to look for a guide book for my trip to Spain.

Of course during that attempted ride is when I realized that the […]

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Call to my readers

Friday, July 10th, 2009

I know I have at least a few readers out there. Some of you I have exchanged emails with and some have commented in the past, so I know you’re out there, but I’m curious about those who read but have never commented.

So now I’m putting out the invitation. Feel free to drop in and say hi, post a comment or say hi over on Twitter. If you have a blog, feel free to put in a few notes about it. Since you read my blog, I’m interested in what you’re writing. This isn’t a request for spam, but I’m certainly interested in helping everyone, including myself, to build a little network here online.

Currently blogger automatically inserts the nofollow attribute into all links that are in comments, so unfortunately your link in my comment won’t help your page ranking. Now that I’m on WordPress, I […]

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San Diego and California, you puzzle me

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Please tell me Oh City of San Diego, it’s no secret that you have been having financial problems, so why are you redoing the sidewalks in my neighborhood that were just fine, with private contractors, of all things?

As we know, there were last fall’s budget cuts, there is the pension crisis, and there are potholes so big that they are damaging cars, so why has the sidewalk on every corner of my neighborhood been dug up when there were no apparent problems. I jog the neighborhood several times per week and with a few exceptions have seen no breaks in the sidewalk or any real reason they weren’t good enough.

What it looks like is that each corner is being replaced with a handicap accessible ramp. So ok, I get it, but still it doesn’t seem to me enough to warrant the time and resources of hiring […]

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